George g



UNITED STATES PATE PAPER-FASTENER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,667, dated October9, 1866.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE G. W. MOR- GAN,of Washington city, in the District of Columbia, have invented a new anduseful Iniprovenientin Tags or Fastenings forPaper, Documents, and otherArticles, and that the following' is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyin gdrawings, making a part of this specioation, in which Figure lrepresents a front or face view of a, series of sheets of paper fastenedby my tag or paper-clip. Fig. 2 represents a rear or back view of thesame. Fig. 3 represents the shape of the piece of metal of which thetag, clip, or fastening is made previous to its being bent into the boworstaple form. Fig. represents the tag, clip, or fastening bent intoproper shape for use, and Fig. 5 represents a perspective view ot' thetag, clip, or fastening detached and separated from the paper or otherthing which it is to hold together.

Similar letters of reference, where they occur in the separate figures,denote like parts in all the drawings.

I am aware that a paper-fastener having spurs upon one plate, that passthrough slots in an under plate or washer, and the spurs bent down uponthe washer, has been used; but in such fastenings a punch and a hammerhave to be used to put and secure them in place, and without suchadditional instruments to apply it the fastening is useless.

I am also aware that fastenings have been used in which short spurs havebeen made at the ends of the metal; but these too require a punch toform the holes, and an instrument of some kind to bend or turn themdown.

I lay no claim to a paper-fastening that requires a punch, hammer, orany other contrivance of a similar` character to introduce and clinch itin the paper.

The object and purpose of my invention is to make a paper-fastenin gthat will penetrate the paper to be fastened by it, cut its own waythrough the paper, and be capable ot' being bent down to clinch it bythe thumb or finger, and thus hecapable ot' being used without a punch,hammer, or any other implement to place and clinch it 5 and myinventionconsists in a bow or staple-shaped fastening, the legs or arms of which`are made pointed by obliquely and transversely inclined cuts or edgesthat when laid against each other shall form a bar ot a widthcorresponding to the bar proper of the staple, said legs or arms beinglong enough to overlap and lie snugly in juxtaposition to each other,thus making both the front and back of the fastening of metal throughouttheir length, and capable of insertion and of being clinched or bentdown by the thumb and ngers or hand ofthe user, and without anyimplement such as has heretofore been used.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

rIhepieces or strips of which the fastening is composed are cut orpunched out in the form sho wn in Fig. S-that is,-ofa rhomboidal formitstwo sides c aI and b b being parallel to each other, and leaving theangles at c so acute as to be sharp or pointed enough to penetrate paperof such thickness as is ordinarily eyeleted together. rIhis rhomboidalstrip is then bent up int'o a bow or staple form, as shown in Fig. 4,and is then ready for use, the points c being capable of piercing, andthe sides b b of cutting, their way into and through the paper,

and when they have thus been passed into or through the paper they arehentover toward each other by the thumb and finger, and when broughtdown into juxtaposition will snugly and closely lap by and fit. eachother, so as to leave a smooth surface on the back of the paper.

Iny Fig. 1, A represents a series of sheets or other material to befastened together. The staples B having been pushed through, their armsor shanks are bent down, as shown in Fig. 2, which represents the backof the paper or other material, said legs or shanks folding down by andsnugly overlapping each other.

Fig. 5 represents one of the fastenings as it appears in the paper, thepaper being removed to show it entire.

The requirements of this fastening are several: First, the blank must beof a rhomboidal forni 5y second, the shanks must be pointed enough topierce the paper or other material without previously punching a holefor them, third, the sides of the shanks or their edges must be sharpenough to cut their way through the paper as they are pressed in by thehand T FICE.

or thumb; fourth, the ,shanks must be long enough to lap by each otherwhen bent down; and, iifth, the fastening lnust be capable of beingintroduced and clinched by the thumb and finger or hand without the useof special implcments for such purpose. l

It will be perceived that by making the shanks so that they will overlapeach other and lie closely together the points c, are thereby shielded,so as not to stick into anything.

The fastenings may be of various sizes. I have shown -two sizes in thedrawings; but there may be more. The saine general character, however,would pervade all, and the blanks for all would be cut out ofarhomboidal form, so as to make the shanks of the proper shape toaccomplish the several objects above enumerated, besides that of beinglong enough to admit of their being readily bent over and down againstthe paper or other materia-l to be fastened.

The sides or edges of the fastener maybe out with a beveled or slopingform, so as to make its edge quite knife-edged, or sharp enough toreadily cut their way through the paper, and the broader face may lieagainst the paper to give the fastener more bearingsurface on the paper,and allow the sharper edges to be shielded thereby7 and this, too, givesthe fastener a neater appearance in the paper or other article fastenedby it.

Having thus fullyT described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is v A paper or other fastenerformed out of a rhomboidal blank and bent into a bow or staple form, andcapable of piercing and cutting its way into or through the paper orother material, and of being bent down or clinched by the thumb and ngeror hand of the user, and overlap each other, as shown at the line b,Figs. 2 and 5, without the use of any special instrument for insertingand clinching it, all as herein described and represented.

. GEORGE G. W. MORGAN.

Titnessesz E. A. RoLLrNs, D. G. WHITMAN.

